We finally got snow. There isn't very much— blades of grass still poke through it— but it did manage to stick to the pine needles and the bare twigs and branches of the other trees, and when for a few minutes late this afternoon the late sun managed to get through the clouds, all the icy details gleamed brightly. It was a splendid scene which, had I had a camera, I would surely have photographed. The sky to the south was still dark blue-gray, and to the east was bright blue, so the contrast between the snowy, white trees and the sky made them stand out vividly.

The snow didn't really get started until afternoon, though a few hours earlier we had some brief flurries, and for a few minutes there were some astonishingly large flakes drifting down. I am actually surprised that we got as much as we did, and greatly enjoyed seeing the white landscape for a change. Most of it will probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon, though it's going to be quite cold again, so any place that is shaded most oft he day is likely to be preserved.

There is some possibility of more snow later tonight, but probably not very much. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, and as of tonight no more rain is predicted until late Sunday night and Monday morning. I suppose that could turn to snow, too, but the forecast isn't officially saying so. It is currently predicting snow early in the morning a week from Friday and then late that night and early Saturday, but a week is really too far off to be sure of anything.

The feral cats have never seen snow actually cover the ground before, and a few reacted with displeasure, though others were fascinated by the unfamiliar substance. There isn't enough on the ground for them to play in, as my cats Dude and Touché used to do. Those guys just loved running through heaps of drifted snow, chasing one another.

I just went out to look at the night. The clouds are scattering, and the half full moon is dimly illuminating the snow on the ground, but the trees are no longer gleaming, so I suppose they have lost most of their thin coating of snow. Too bad. It might have been worth enduring the nocturnal chill a bit longer had the trees still been white.